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« With a sigh, Sierra unzipped the uncomfortable dress, letting it fall to the ground in a sea of satin. She kicked it away from her, knowing she wouldn’t take it from the hotel. She had no desire to wear it again. Let one of the maids find it. They’d appreciate the expensive dress more than she ever would.
Sierra didn’t need any more reminders of her sister’s wedding. She’d have plenty of daily reminders as she watched her happily married sister in the arms of her ex-boyfriend.
She took out the hundreds of pins from her up-do, a feeling of bliss overcoming her as the tight curtain of hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Her head ached, along with the soles of her feet. »
Afficher en entier« Mason worked for her father, and marrying either Sierra or Sandy pretty much sealed the deal of him becoming the corporation’s next CEO. He’d moved his way toward the top, and when he’d hit the mother-load by marrying the owner’s daughter, he got it all. He would’ve settled for Sierra, but why settle when he could have Sandy, everyone’s choice of the better of the two siblings.
Sierra finally made it to her room and swiped the key card across the reader, grateful when it registered on the first try. She stepped inside and tightly closed the door behind her. All she wanted was freedom, and maybe, just maybe, that’s what she’d finally get. Besides, she didn’t want to get married. Why place herself in a position where a man had control of her again. If she ever escaped her nightmare, she vowed to stay single the rest of her life.
She glanced at the clock, noting that it was just past midnight. Sandy and Mason were well on their way to Europe by now. Sierra felt more of a pang over her sister getting to visit one of the country’s she’d always wanted to go to.
Afficher en entier« Sierra was exhausted.
Deeply, utterly, fall-on-her-face exhausted.
She also had a feeling of unmitigated accomplishment. The wedding was over. With zero regret, she tossed the slightly wilted Calla Lilies into the nearest garbage can, and then found a chair to rest in for a few minutes.
It had been a circus, but it was over. Her incredibly babied, and very spoiled little sister was married to the man of her dreams. She loved her sister, though she didn’t know why, really. For the past twenty-three years, her father had dotted on Sandy, spoiled her, given her everything.
He hadn’t been so kind to Sierra. She’d never forget when she was six years old, her sister only four. Their mother had died in an automobile crash. From that moment on, her life had been hell.
Her father told her almost daily that her mother was a cheating whore and that Sierra most likely wasn’t even his kid. He’d also told her, he owned her and would make her pay for her mother’s transgressions. The beatings had begun, only escalating through the years. »
Afficher en entier« Damien turned to find a petite girl being pushed to the ground by a group of girls. Normally, he wouldn’t get involved. He didn’t hit girls, no matter how much fury reigned inside him. He turned to walk away as one of the gang grabbed the girl on the ground by her hair and yanked her head back, spitting in her face.
The small girl in clothing as tattered as his own was sobbing as another one of the older girls slapped her. Where in the hell were the teachers? He looked around, not seeing anyone doing anything to stop the bullying.
A third teenager in the group stepped forward and kicked the girl in her ribs and he’d seen enough. He strode over to them.
“You want to try that crap on me?” he asked, his voice thundering across the yard.
“Go away, white trash,” one of the snobby girls snapped as she loosened her grasp to glare at him.
He smiled at her, a smile full of evil delight. Let her think he was crazy. She could go running home to mommy, sobbing about the guy who nearly took her life. »
Afficher en entier« Damien strutted through the school yard, looking for a fight. None of the boys would look him in the face. They were used to the set of his shoulders, the gleam in his eyes, almost begging for a challenge. He was just waiting for one of them to look at him wrong, or say the simplest remark to set him off – giving him an excuse to thoroughly waste them.
They’d lose – they were well aware of the speed with which Damien threw a punch, after witnessing plenty of his brawls in the past. His childhood had made him rage internally, and it was always at a low simmer, ready to ignite. The only reason he stayed in school was because he promised his mother. He had to finish school, had to succeed so he could seek revenge on those who’d killed both his parents. »
Afficher en entier« Damien, you must always remember who you are!” his mother wheezed before she fell back against her pillows, the words interrupted by her severe cough filling the room.
“I will, Mom. I promise. You have to take your medicine now,” Damien begged the frail woman.
“I’m dying, Damien. Those little pills can’t help me any longer,” she whispered, causing fear to cut through the heart of the thirteen year old boy.
“We gotta go to the hospital, Mom. Please,” Damien begged.
“Not this time, son. Not this time. I’m tired, Damien. I just need rest. You have to promise me that you’ll never forget who you are. They took everything from us. Everything! They killed your father, just as surely as if they would’ve walked up and stabbed him in the heart. If they wouldn’t have stolen all he’d worked so hard for his entire life, he wouldn’t have died the way he did. He wouldn’t have left us all alone and broken, without a penny to our name.”
“I know, Mom. I’ll make them pay. I promise you, I will…” Damien trailed off, reaching deep inside for the courage to keep him from crying. »
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